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Lucca Film Festival 2023 23 september – 1 october 2023

Entries are now open for the international feature and short film competition and for the Lucca Effetto Cinema evening of the Lucca Film Festival 2023. In addition, there is the Lucca Film Festival for Future, a new short film competition created in an exclusive collaboration with the Sofidel Group. Chaired by Nicola Borrelli, the Festival will be held from September 23 to October 1, 2023. It is one of the flagship events on the Italian cultural scene, realized thanks to the contribution of the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Lucca that manages to bring to Tuscany some of the greatest personalities of international cinema, such as Oliver Stone and David Lynch, andAlfonso Cuarón, Jeremy Irons, Rupert Everett, Terry Gilliam and many others. As with previous editions, the 2023 edition will be able to fully appreciate contemporary independent films that will be selected by a jury of experts. The short films will then be screened not only in Lucca’s cinemas but also online for the entire duration of the festival thanks to our well-established partnership with Festival Scope.

For the Feature Film Competition, 12 films will be selected and will compete for four prizes: Best Feature Film (€3,000), awarded by a jury of leading names in the film world, Best Feature Film – Student Jury, awarded by a jury of university students, Best Feature Film – Popular Jury, a prize awarded by the public, and the Marcello Petrozziello Prize, awarded by the press jury. The call for entries, via the Filmfreeway and Festhome portals, expires on 14 July 2023. There is no restriction on the genre or topic, however the film must be at least 60 minutes long and have been produced no earlier than 2022. The films must be presented as Italian premieres and therefore never have competed in other Italian festivals, been released on online platforms open to the public or screened or distributed in Italy. To submit an application all participants must send an online screener of their work – together with a dialogue list in English if neither the dialogues nor the subtitles are in Italian. The selected films will be announced – on the Festival website and social media pages – no later than September 15, 2023. To learn more: featurecompetition@luccafilmfestival.it.

The Short Film Competition is an important part of the Festival’s history, reaching its 19th edition in 2023. There is a cash prize of 500 euros for the winning entry. Participants can submit their application no later than July 14, 2023, by sending their film as a link to competition@luccafilmfestival.it or by signing up on Filmfreeway and Festhome. Works produced preferably no later than 2022 are accepted, which in any case must be Italian premieres. The selected films will be announced – on the Festival website and social media pages – no later than September 15, 2023. To learn more: competition@luccafilmfestival.it.

Both the Popular Jury and the Student Judging Panel have been confirmed and applications are now open. Simply send an email with the subject line “LFF23 Giuria Studentesca” or “LFF23 Giuria Popolare” to: segreteria@luccafilmfestival.it no later than September 15, 2023.

But Lucca Film Festival launches, for the 2023 edition, a new short film competition, Lucca Film Festival for Future, which was born thanks to the collaboration with the Sofidel Group, 2nd producer in Europe and 7th in the world for production capacity in the sector of paper for hygienic and domestic use (known in particular for the Regina brand), which has made sustainability a strategic lever of development and responsible growth to reduce its impact on natural capital and favour the transition towards a low carbon impact economy.
The competition is also the result of renewed collaboration with the festivals of the international ‘Film For Our Future‘ network and the EURASF network (European network of science communicators, filmmakers, film producers and festival organisers). A project that LFF feels strongly about in order to raise awareness of the need for a new culture of environmental protection and nature appreciation. The selection of films, which will consist of at least 15 short films from all over the world, will showcase the most innovative and interesting modes of narrative, documentary and interactive storytelling. The 10 festivals of the ‘Film For Our Future’ network will make up the jury that will award the first prize of €1,000. The jury of the new award will therefore be at the centre of a public meeting on the relationship between film narrative and environmental protection, with a view to finding new and effective ways to involve citizenship and make them participate in a common effort to care for and protect our Planet. The meeting will be organised by the LFF For Europe network and will also be attended by speakers from the University of Bergen and the University for Foreigners of Perugia. The whole final film selection of the 2023 competition will be screened in the morning hours for schools and in the afternoon for the general public. In addition, it will be available for free worldwide via on-demand streaming on the Festival Scope portal for the whole duration of the festival.

Another important event of the Lucca Film Festival is Lucca Effetto Cinema, from this edition co-produced exclusively by the City of Lucca and the Chamber of Commerce of North-West Tuscany, an event that enlivens the historic centre with micro-performances co-produced by the festival together with amateur acting associations and dance companies from all over Italy. Applications are open – by 1 August 2023 – for performers, public establishments, stores and hotels located in the historic center of Lucca to participate in the new edition of Effetto Cinema, which will take place on September 30, 2023. Performances lasting 5 to 10 minutes, with breaks of at least 30 minutes between each performance, following a time schedule designed by the production. This year, different prizes dedicated to the participating companies and public establishments, such as best performance and best stage design, will be awarded to the event partners, which are as follows: 500-euro Audience Award will be given by the audience itself who will vote online after watching the live performances or bits of the shows on our social media or after following the unfolding of the work. Then, the Professional Jury Prize worth €500.

Also this year, the festival will give the Revelation Award to a young promising actor or actress of Italian cinema, who will be testimonial of Lucca Effetto Cinema 2023 as well as part of the event’s jury. This edition also confirms the involvement of the shopkeepers in the city centre: in the week before the start of the Lucca Film Festival event, customers who go to participating shops will be able to take part in a contest with prizes, by registering via a QR code; there will then be a final draw. In this regard, three total prizes were established: aperitif with guest star of the Lucca Film Festival, T-shirt with Festival logo and catalogue 2023. The winner will give their trusted retailer the opportunity to obtain the winning prize. This collaboration with the Chamber of Commerce of North-West Tuscany will be articulated in several stages: on the one hand, the co-production of a real calendar of activities that the festival will promote at a national level and that, in addition to Lucca Effetto Cinema, will include film activities and performances related to cinema (always ‘targate’ Lucca Effetto Cinema) and that, during the summer and autumn, will animate the territories of Pisa, Carrara and Camaiore. The North-West Tuscany Chamber of Commerce will also be involved in the co-production of the new Lucca Film Festival Career Prize, which will be awarded each year to an important entrepreneur of Italian film and publishing creativity.

Over the years, the Lucca Film Festival has paid tribute to the great names of international cinema from Oliver Stone to David Lynch, from Rutger Hauer to George Romero, from Paolo Sorrentino to Willem Dafoe. It is one of the leading events on the Tuscan cultural scene, realised thanks to the contribution of the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Lucca, Banca Generali Private Wealth Management (Paolo Tacchi) and Banca Pictet are the Main Sponsors of the event and exhibitions.

The festival is also supported by Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, Audi Center Terigi, Tenuta del Buonamico, Martinelli Luce, Wella, Ministero dei Beni e delle Attività Culturali e del Turismo, Ministero dell’Istruzione, Ministero dell’Università e della Ricerca, Regione Toscana, Fondazione Sistema Toscana, The Lands of Giacomo Puccini, Lucca Promos, Comune di Lucca and the collaboration and co-production of Provincia di Lucca, Teatro del Giglio di Lucca, Fondazione Giacomo Puccini and Puccini Museum – Casa Natale, Casa d’arte San Lorenzo, Fondazione Carlo Ludovico Ragghianti, Accademia Cinema Toscana, Octocom, Accademia di Belle Arti di Carrara, Istituto Luigi Boccherini and Liceo Artistico Musicale e Coreutico Augusto Passaglia. We would also like to thank the Federazione Italiana Teatro Amatori (FITA), A.C.S.I. Associazione Centri Sportivi Italiani, Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Italia, the Regional Directorate of Trenitalia, the Talea Association, Unicoop Firenze, Confcommercio of the Provinces of Lucca and Massa Carrara, the Degree Course in Performing Arts and Communication Disciplines of the Department of Civilisations and Forms of Knowledge of the University of Pisa, University of Florence, Associazione Donne all’Ultimo Grido, Lucca Film Club, Cineforum Ezekiel 25: 17, Corte Tripoli Cinematografica, Uicc, Cinit, Fedic, Ucca, Fic, Photolux Festival and Lucca Classica Music Festival for their collaboration.

More information
www.luccafilmfestival.it
segreteria@luccafilmfestival.it